Machine Man
by Snazzy Elle
Summary: --"Cid's Girl?" "Yes Machine Man?" "Just shut-up." Sometimes, life is a puzzle....literally. Rippal One-shot


Author's Note: Please forgive my lack of updations on...anything? This is a gift to my bestie, K; I thoroughly hope you enjoy this just as much as I'm /sure/ I'll enjoy _writing_ this. Note the sarcasm.

**Disclaimer:**

Do we still do these on FF? Oh well, here goes nothing:

So I was walking into the bar one day and ran into a member of Square Enix. He was pretty mad at the fact that I had been falsely claiming Final Fantasy X-2 as my own. For my punishment, I had to clean my room. What the heck do you think? If I seriously owned it, Gippal would have stopped flirting with Yuna and jumped Rikku. The END of the discussion.

Machine Man:

"Happy birthday dear Rikku, happy birthday to you," a chorus of voices chimed in all at the same time, their faces hidden beneath the shadows of the dimmed room.

The hyper-active birthday girl smiled at her cake before her eyes got wide. Her lips puckered, and she allowed the air to exit her lips...

_Whoosh._

All the candles had been blown out.

A thunder erupted from the table around her, causing the Al Bhed birthday girl to blush slightly. "You guys really didn't have to throw me a surprise birthday bash, y'know," she tried to reason, but her cousin merely rolled her eyes with newly found zeal; Rikku blamed Paine.

"Oh please, Rikku," the ex-summoner demanded, cocking a hip to the side in a new Yuna manner, "you're only nineteen once! Besides, you deserve a little party time, don't you agree Tidus?"

Yuna's fiancee nodded, wrapping a delicate arm around his wife-to-be, "Of course, Rikku! Who else should get a surprise party than yourself? And we all _know _how much you like surprises."

The blonde Al Bhed straightened up before punching Tidus in the arm, "Only _some _surprises, remember? I wasn't so forgiving once I found out that you planned on asking Yunie to marry you when we were at a dig for Pete's Sake. Honestly--"

"SH," Tidus attempted to cover Rikku's mouth with a gloved hand, but the damage had already been done. Yuna officially knew of Tidus' original proposal plans. Of course, the blond Fayth was never a genius when it came to romance, so Rikku and Paine had to aid him, naturally. However, now that Yuna knew the truth...

_Crack. _

Yuna viciously cracked her knuckles, glaring daggers at Tidus as he attempted to hide behind Wakka, "Don't kill me, hun. Remember the party is for Rikku..."

Giving a sigh and muttering something on the lines of 'foofie', Yuna regained her composure and allowed a warm smile to be directed towards her cousin, "It's present time, Rikku! Open Tidus and I's first." With this said, she shoved a brightly colored box at her cousin and former guardian, the same smile woven across her features. With this, Rikku's spirits downed a little. Compared to Yuna, Rikku was never quite as stunning, and she was highly aware that whenever she walked into a room, people always noticed Yuna before her.

Shoving aside those feelings, Rikku tore into the paper and lifted out a stuffed monkey with a matching scarf around it's neck. Her eyes grew big as she turned it over before glancing upwards at the giver of the gift. After a few seconds in silence, she launched herself at Yuna, squeezing the small woman in her arms. "Oh, Yunie, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you," she gushed, releasing her cousin as she repeated the action with Tidus. The stuffed monkey resembled her, not only physically, but mentally as well. In a way, Rikku could relate to the monkey, since it was always--

"Ya, ya, open mine now, ya," Wakka pushed another package into her arms. Several of her other friends repeated the process until Rikku officially had new daggers from Paine and Barali, a newly knitted scarf and magic book from Lulu and Wakka, _A Dummy's Guide to Leadership _from Nooj, excessive make-up from Leblanc, and a card from her Pops.

Go figure that one, eh?

"You guys are so amazing," Rikku said, her virdian eyes glassing over with crystal droplets threatening to fall. It seemed as though all of her friends were here except--

"Am I late for Cid's Girl's party," a voice rang out from the doorway, the owner of the voice posed against the door frame. Rikku's eyes brightened at the sight of him, vision drinking in the actual fact that he was there...

"Gippal!" Rikku exclaimed, frantically waving as said man flicked her on the nose, usual smirk worn on his face. He was the same as ever; young, handsome, ever-so-smug...

"Happy birthday, Cid's girl," he greeted with his usual tone, dropping a box wrapped in simple blue paper into her arms, "enjoy."

At this, Rikku smiled, knowing it was like Gippal to be so full of himself. Whatever he had gotten her, she felt as though it was something that he would get enjoyment out of her using...

"So what is it?" Paine cut in, interrupting Rikku's thoughts on whatever was inside the box. She was also thinking about how Gippal was the only man to ever make purple look sexy, but she wasn't about to voice _that _out loud.

Gippal rolled his eyes, folding his arms across his broad chest and his eye fell upon Rikku, "Are you going to open it or what?"

Rikku held it up by her ear and shook it, alarmed to hear all sorts of chaos inside the box. She shot Gippal another death-glare before slowly unwrapping the package, eyebrow raised in curiosity at the blank brown box. Tentatively, her fingers slid under the cardboard, and lifted off the top, revealing...

Puzzle pieces. Thousands of them.

She groaned.

"A puzzle," she whined, looking up at Gippal with a pouting look, "of all the things you could have possibly gotten me, you got the one thing I think is tedious. Anyways," she pushes some golden hair from her eyes, "where is the picture?"

Gippal's smirk grew wider, if possible, "That's the thing. It's a _personalized_ puzzle; you won't know what it says until you figure it out."

Rikku blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

"What," she asked dumbly, giving the box to Paine to hold as she glued her hands to the curves of her hips, "is that suppose to mean? You actually think I'm going to sit there and sift through puzzle pieces? Needlessly said a puzzle that I have no idea what it looks like!"

With a sigh, Gippal pushed off the door frame, "Exactly, Cid's girl, exactly. And could you hurry up? The message is kind of life-changing."

This statement got Rikku hooked, "Life-changing?"

"Yes."

"For who's life?"

"Two extremely important people."

"Do I know them?"

"Perhaps."

"Ugh," Rikku pushed Gippal roughly on the arm, "this is annoying! I hate your stupid tricks, Gippal. I swear, if this puzzle isn't worth it, I'll hire Nooj to blast your other eye in."

He smirked once more, "Is that all cupcake?"

"No."

"Then what else?"

"Don't," she said through gritted teeth, trying to show exactly _how_ annoyed she really was, "call me cupcake."

xxx

The rain poured down like bullets on the windows of the Celsius, adding more doom and gloom to Rikku's already dwindling mood. She whined, tossing the puzzle behind her on the couch, "Yunie!"

Yuna stopped repairing a button on Buddy's shirt to stop and glance over at her boisterous cousin, "What is it, Rikku?" Once her eyes landed upon the shrewd puzzle, her lips formed an 'oh' expression, "Well, leave it to Gippal to be, erm--"

"Exceedingly irritating?"

"No, not that..."

"So egotistical that he's the mayor of ego land?"

"Um, Rikku, no--"

"Ah ha! The blonde stood up, punching a fist into the air as her dazzling eyes flickered down to her handiwork. Underneath her was the beginning of a puzzle; five pieces to be exact. And if you looked hard enough...

"Congrats," Paine drawled out from the corner, taking a moment to stare at Rikku from the pages of her book, "you managed to put two pieces together."

Rikku faulted, crossing her arms with a huff as she sat down, "Well, excuse me if this is nearly impossible to complete! I don't even know where to--"

Brother stopped walking across the room, eyes squinted at the puzzle pieces laid across the table. Moving back to the box, he roamed around until he found a piece he wanted, and connected it to the 'work' Rikku had done.

"Rao, rao; E kud uha! Pek pnu paydc meddma cecdan ykyeh, oayr?"

"No, you do _not_ win just because you helped me." Rikku pouted, pushing Brother away from the barely completed puzzle, "I can do this!"

She sweat-dropped.

"With some help."

Everyone groaned.

xxx

For the next week or so, Rikku tried putting off the puzzle, knowing that she hardly had half of a word completed. Not like she did anything, anyways; Paine got annoyed watching her /attempt/ to finish it and helped--more like did--half of the first letter for her.

It wasn't Rikku's fault that she had A.D.H.D. and A.D.D and anything else that involved a short attention span. Like Paine once said, she was like a baby monkey; looks-wise, too. At that, she had taken offense with because--

"Cid's Girl," Rang out said giver of the puzzle, his frame pressed against the automatic door. How she wished, at the moment, it would decide to be automatic and squish him into the--"earth to Cid's Girl? Hello?"

Rikku shook out the thoughts with a huff, standing up as she glared up at Gippal, "What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No, not really."

"How's the puzzle coming along?"

"Disastericfic. Gippal, can you at least give me a hin--"

At this, he completely ignored Rikku and brushed past her, eye scanning the hardly completely puzzled, "This is it after a week?"

"I have a short attention span." Rikku admitted, idea popping up in her head, "You could help me, thoug--"

His answer came quickly, "No." Pausing, he stared at the puzzle again, and sighed, "Alright, I'll make you a deal. I'll help you finish the first letter, but after that you're own your own." He crossed his arms, his stance obviously stating that he didn't want to help her with this project.

Rikku perked up at this, "Agreed!"

And so they worked in complete silence, much to Rikku's dismay. Silence annoyed the crap out of Rikku, but she wasn't about to disturb the peace surrounding the room. For the moment, Gippal and herself were getting along, which was a miracle in itself. A little after an hour or so, the first letter of the puzzle had been completed, along with a little blank space.

"I?" Rikku questioned, lifting her eyebrows quizzically, "Gippal, this better be good. I swear, what is so important that you have to tell me in a puzzle?"

Not answering the question, the leader of the Machine Faction stood, striding past Rikku as he exited the room. Rikku gritted her teeth. Oh, how he infuriated her, although she couldn't help but stare at his retreating tush--

_'Okay,' _She thought to herself, smacking her face a couple of times, _'knock that off.'_

Whatever the puzzle said, it was obviously that it started with "i".

_"I really want to kill Gippal,"_ She thought again with a sigh, and proceeded to try and get some more done.

xxx

In another week's passing, Rikku had yet to figure out what the second word was. So far, she had an "I" and an "L". Whatever the hell Gippal was trying to tell her, it was annoying her second by second. Yuna passed by her, eyeballing the puzzle with a slight smile.

"I know what it says." she bragged slightly, giggling into her hand at Rikku's dumbstruck expression.

"WHAT?"

"Yup," she added, "but I won't tell you." Her slim hand reached into the box on Rikku's lap and pulled out a piece, connecting it to the top as she smiled and departed. Rikku merely sat there in shock before whining out loud, "It took me half an hour to try and find that piece."

_'This is so hopeless'_, she thought before standing up, glancing at the soda can before her. Well, if she was ever going to finish this worthless puzzle, she needed snack food and pronto. Reluctantly she stood up, eyes flickering over to Paine munching on a rather delectable sandwich. Evilly, Rikku rubbed her hands together.

What good was being a thief if you couldn't express your skill?

Silently, she peeked behind Paine's chair and got ready for the pounce--

"Don't you dare, Rikku," Paine warned, not even bothering to take her eyes from the pages of her book, "it's my sandwich and you may not have it." A little whine escaped Rikku throat as she took a seat on the arm of Paine's chair. Well fine, if she couldn't get the sandwich, she'd get something else...

"Paine, you love me, right?"

"I will not help you with that puzzle."

Rikku frowned, "Why not?"

"Gippal informed me not to. It's something you need to figure out for yourself," Paine said in her matter-of-fact monotone, causing Rikku to turn on the charm. Oh, it was so needed at the moment.

"Please, Painie? One letter, please? Please? PLEASE? I'm desperate," with this, she laid herself across Paine's lap, grinning up at the crimson-eyed woman.

"Has anyone told you how utterly annoying you are?" Paine questioned, lifting a silver eyebrow before shoving the blonde off of her lap. "Fine, I'll help you. Do I want to? No, this is ridiculous."

"But you will help?"

"Unfortunately."

The two Gullwings sat down at the coffee table in the resting room, eyes gazing at the puzzle. In the manner with Gippal, the room fell silent except for the noise of rustling puzzle pieces. Rikku thought about striking up a conversation, but Paine didn't like to talk as it was and she didn't want to push her luck. They worked for about forty-five minutes until Paine laid down the last piece of the second letter before she snorted.

"Wow, I didn't know he was going to do it like that."

"What?" Rikku questioned, turning to her silver-haired friend in confusion, "Do what? Who are we talking about, Paine?"

Paine slowly shook her head, "No one. Don't ask me for anymore help, Rikku. This is something that you have to do for yourself."

"Aw," Rikku pouted, "why? It isn't my fault Gippal is retarded and decided to give me a stupid puzzle for my _birthday_."

"Trust me," Paine concluded, "this is something you want to figure out for yourself."

"Ah, man!"

xxx

About two weeks had flown by, and all Rikku had to account for was an 'I lo'. It wasn't very promising, and she was just about done with that stupid puzzle. Ironically, Gippal was determined not to talk to her until the puzzle was completely and, honestly, that was the only thing propelling her to finish the ridiculous project. Not making fun of Gippal was a factor she was missing for the past month, so she was determined to finish this puzzle.

So she called Lulu.

Of course, one look at the puzzle, and Lulu was convinced she didn't want to aid Rikku's quest. After all, the mage could only stand so much sitting down in the same spot for hours, but Rikku attempted to explain her reasoning for needing the puzzle done. With a sigh, Lulu sat down, and started to think about what the puzzle might be.

"I...loaned you money and want it back," Lulu suggested dryly, receiving an "aw" from Rikku.

The blond sighed, "It's true, too. I owe him five dollars." If that was what was on this stupid puzzle, Rikku was going to make sure that she damaged Gippal's good eye.

"I...love machine," Rikku thought suddenly before snapping her fingers, "yeah, that has to be it! He's, like, the machine god or something."

Lulu rolled her eyes, "I loathe you?"

"That's harsh."

"Might be true, though."

"Be nice, Lulu."

The mage laughed, placing another piece in the huge void before them, "I lowered my monthly car insurance by switching to Geico?"

"..."

"..."

"Does Gippal even drive?"

"I have no idea, Rikku."

"Ugh, this is hopeless," Riku complained, watching as Lulu completed what looked like a slash. Whatever was on this puzzle, it had better be important or else Gippal was paying for it. Dearly.

Another hour or so went by, and Lulu finished up what appeared to be a 'v'. Well, so far they had 'I Lov', which wasn't exactly enlightening. However, Lulu merely smirked upon reading it before standing up, flattening out her skirt.

"I'm done here, Rikku. Finish up the rest by yourself."

"Why Lulu? Don't do this to me," whined Rikku for the millionth time, clinging to Lulu's leg. The mage zapped her off, though, and walked towards the door.

"You need to do this for yourself."

"Why does everyone keep on saying that?"

xxx

Several weeks had passed since Rikku had received the puzzle from Gippal and, quite frankly, she was sick and tired of it. All of her free time was devoted to the stupid contraption consisting of cardboard and paper. For some odd reason Yuna and Paine would not let her quit her newly acquired hobby.

"You need to finish it." Insisted Yuna, bright smile adorning her face, "I promise it's worth it."

Rikku stuck out her bottom lip in a puppy dog pout, "Tell me what it says?"

Yuna faulted, "No."

"Yunie, you're no fun!" Over the course of the week, Rikku had completed the letter 'e'. So far, the puzzle read 'I Love'. Wow, wasn't that an insight? It could be anything. Stupid Gippal.

Stupid.

_Stupid._

**Stupid.**

"Rikku?"

"STUPID!" She cried outwards, glancing over at who she just directed her insult at. Standing there looking like he was about to say something was Tidus.

"I'M SO SORRY!" Rikku apologized, standing up, "I was thinking of someone else and I just said the word. God, I'm sorry, Tidus!"

Tidus chuckled, "It's alright, Rikku. Yuna said you were, um, distracted. Can I help with the puzzle?"

And that's what Rikku loved about Tidus. He was always there to lend her a helping hand even though he obviously didn't have to. Well, he was either really nice or Yuna threatening him to sleep on the couch for the rest of the month if he didn't offer his assistance.

"Sure," Rikku brightened, taking a seat on the couch and patted the spot next to her for Tidus, "help out with whatever you can. It's so annoying and I'm getting sick of seeing all the same pieces and col--"

Tidus managed to place in three pieces as she was ranting about how she was tired of it.

"..."

"..."

"You're kidding," Rikku said incredulously, watching as the other letter started to form before her eyes. "Tidus, you're amazing a puzzles! Oh my gosh, why didn't I call you before this? Jeeze."

A faint semblance of color rose to Tidus' cheeks, "I've had practice. Auron and I liked to--"

"You're done. Don't finish that sentence," came a voice from a certain blonde Machine Faction leader. "I don't want to know what kinky things you have done with Auron."

"GIPPAL," Rikku chided, throwing a shoe his way with annoyance, "now you decide to talk to me. HELP ME WITH YOUR STU--"

"Anyways, Tidus, give this to Paine, alright?" Gippal added, completely ignoring Rikku as he handed a package to Tidus before retreating into the automatic doors.

_..._

_..._

_'Did he just IGNORE me!?'_

Oh, that's it; Gippal's good eye it was.

"I love y," interrupted Tidus as he finished the first letter of the next word. Rikku stopped, merely staring in awe at Tidus.

"You're amazing," Rikku concluded as she stared at the perplexing puzzle. "Hm, I Love...yodeling."

"..."

"...What?" Rikku defended, her face trying to conceal laughter, "Picture Gippal in a yodeling outfit."

"...I'm disturbed," Tidus finished, shaking his head to try and rid himself of the image. "How about I Love...yogurt?"

Rikku thought to herself for a moment, "I Love Yo-yoing."

"I love young women."

"So Gippal." Rikku agreed with a grin, "I bet that's it."

Tidus laughed alongside Rikku before their short attention spans got the best of them and decided to eat and talk rather than finish up a puzzle. Around six, Tidus left for a date with Yuna, leaving Rikku to the company of herself and the rain outside.

"I hope it doesn't thunder and stuff," she said softly, eying the puzzle with disdain. It was almost like it was mocking her for being so slow in it's completion. Once it was finished, she'd never hear the end of it...

I Love Y...

"I LOVE YUNA!" she yelled, thinking she had finally figured out the great mystery. It all made sense, at all! Gippal was rather curious about Yuna, so...

"Aha, take that Gippal," Rikku said triumphantly, sitting down to completely the puzzle that she had in mind. Two hours flew by, and all she had managed was an 'I Love Yo'. Well, maybe he didn't love Yuna, which still meant some hope for--

_'Bad Rikku,'_ she chided inwardly,_'no thinking of Gippal like that.'_

Realizing that it was rather late into the night, Rikku placed her head on the table, eyes closing as slumber overtook her sense.

And then it was black.

xxx

"Rikku...Rikku, wake up," Paine demanded, smacking the blonde Al Bhed a couple of times before placing a cup of liquid in front of her. "It's time for you to finish up that puzzle."

Glancing up at her fellow friend and Gullwing, Rikku slowly lifted her gaze and realized the puzzle on the table had left an imprint on her face.

Splendid.

"Fine, fine," Rikku mumbled, shifting her attention on the almost completely puzzle. About twenty minutes passed, and Rikku glanced down into the box, noting that there was no more pieces...

Strange.

She looked back at the puzzle and read over what appeared on the front.

"I Love You," she repeated, smiling at her accomplishment, "Painie, I finished the puzzle!"

"And what does it say," Paine asked, sipping a liquid from a clear mug.

"I love you.

"And?"

"That's it. I love you," Rikku said, lifting an eyebrow over at Paine, who merely smacked her head. "What? Am I missing something?"

Paine nearly dropped her mug in annoyance, "Who did you get the puzzle from, Rikku?"

"Erm," Rikku paused, "Gippal?"

"..."

"Oh."

Rikku sat there for a moment, thinking things through her head. If the puzzle was a gift from Gippal for her birthday that meant...

"_OH,_" Rikku exclaimed, her cheeks reddening from the actual impact of the sentence.

Loved.

Her.

Gippal.

Her Gippal.

Loved...her.

The same man who called her Cid's Girl her entire life.

The one who made fun of her constantly.

Brother's Best Friend.

The same man she had been in love with since she was ten.

Loved. Her.

Her, and not someone else.

"Rikku," Paine called out, lifting an eyebrow as the blonde darted up. She was about to exit the ship before Shinra stopped her.

"You may want to put something decent on. PJ's aren't attractive."

Rikku's cheeks flamed even more before she darted upstairs, quickly showered, and changed into her normal attire. All the while, her heart felt like it was about to leap from her ribcage. Opening the door to her room, she stopped to see a smirking Paine and a grinning Yuna.

"Took you long enough, Rikku," Yuna said, laughing as Rikku bolted from the room with a stain across her cheeks.

It was finally time to tell Gippal her answer.

xxx

"Bring that around there," Gippal ordered a worker, eyes darting from his workers to his paperwork. Sometimes being the leader of the Machine Faction wasn't all what it was cracked up to be...

"Gippal!"

He turned around, amused to see Rikku(Cid's Girl) running towards him. She looked dazzling today with that giant grin plastered all over her face.

"I," she paused to pant, placing her palm on her knees in attempts to bring more oxygen into her lungs, "I figured out the puzzle."

It was Gippal's turn to be shocked that morning, "Oh really?"

"Really."

There was a silence for a few minutes as Rikku straightening up, nervously rubbing the back of her neck. Gippal just stood there, arms crossed, as he watched her actions. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"And?"

"And...what," Rikku asked dumbly, knowing that this was probably her only chance to mess with him.

Gippal sighed in annoyance, "Dammit, Cid's Girl, don't do that to me."

"Do you really?"

Gippal stopped and turned his gaze over to Rikku, "Do I really what?"

"Love," she gulped, "love me?"

"Oh," his expression softened for a moment as he allowed a crooked smile to cross his features, "yeah, I really do."

"Then prove it."

"What?" Gippal was now passed annoyed, but if this is what she really wanted from him.

Stupid Cid's Girl.

"Fine," he started, "I, Gippal, love you, Cid's Girl."

There was a pause as Rikku grinned, launching herself into Gippal's arms, "And I, Rikku, love you, Machine Man."

"...Machine Man?" Gippal asked quizzically, receiving nothing but a giggle from Rikku.

"Yup. If you get to call me Cid's Girl, I get to call you Machine Man."

Gippal chuckled more in irritation than laughter as he pulled Rikku from his arms and gazed down at her.

"Cid's Girl?"

"Yes Machine Man?"

"Shut up."

And then he leaned down, capturing her lips with his own. Never in her life had Rikku felt more complete.

**END.**

**A/N:**

OhmyGOD, I finished.

My first ANYTHING in about two years...

Well, I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to press the purple button and review!

Peace out

L.


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